What Happens in Vegas
by LauraRoslinForever
Summary: Every ship needs a 'what happens in Vegas,' story and here's mine, Kabby style.
1. Chapter 1

Abby hated Las Vegas. She hated the dry, insufferable heat. The crowds of people. The drinking, gambling, and mob mentality. But most of all, she hated it because it was home. Memories of where she met her ex-husband and started the life they made there for nineteen years. But she loved her best friend. And her best friend wanted a wedding at home. Wanted it to be at the same hotel where she met her husband-to-be. Wanted Abby to be her maid-of-honor.

So of course, she said yes.

Which was why she was there, checking in to The Venetian where Thelonious reserved those in the wedding party each a room all on the same floor. Her eyes drifted around the foyer and lobby. There was only one other person she knew involved in the wedding other than the bride and groom. Avoiding him would be impossible. As Thelonious' best friend and man, they would be included in all aspects of the wedding and day activities leading up to it, including meeting the happy couple for dinner later that night.

"Enjoy your stay, Miss Jennings," the front desk attendant, Gina, told her with a beaming smile.

Abby returned the young girl's smile. "Thank you."

She took her room card and made her way over to the elevator. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent a quick text to Callie. _I'm here and on my way up to change._

 _Yay! Hope you like your room. Theo went all out. We'll be there as soon as we can! Can't wait to hug you, darling!_

 _You too and I'm sure I will. The price they charge you for a week here could pay my rent._

 _Nothing but the best for my girl._

Abby shook her head and stuck her phone back into her pocket. The bellman had already taken up her bags.

Inside her room, Abby gaped. To her left was a grand king size bed with a large ornate headboard, then down three steps, a separate living room with not one but two couches, table and chairs, desk, and mini fridge. The light brown walls had thick, white framing, and a large bay window of the Strip. She dropped her purse on the bed, and thought, _Nice job, Thelonious._ Running her hand along the edge of the bed, Abby wandered down the steps and to her right, into a bathroom that was the size of the living room.

Dark blue marble countertop vanity and double sink, a closet filled with white fluffy towels and bathrobes. And what really caught her attention, a large roman tub. A little deeper and it might as well be a pool. She'd be using that later tonight for sure.

With a longing sigh, she left the bathroom and made her way back up the stairs to where her bags had been placed in the closet by the bed. Lifting her suitcase, she unzipped it and began removing her things. She had brought a variety of dresses, all of which she frowned at as she removed them. They would all need to be steamed as most had wrinkled on her trip. A few pairs of jeans, a few tee-shirts, for the downtime between rehearsals, family gatherings, and bachelorette party as maid of honor that she was forced to attend. Then her underwear that consisted of black and red lace and silk. She may have been single, it may have been years since she'd had sex, but that didn't mean she didn't like to still feel sexy sometimes.

And why not this week?

It was Las Vegas. After all, what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, right? It wasn't as though she had someone in mind because she didn't. Not really. Oh, who was she kidding? She wasn't that type of girl. She couldn't throw herself into bed with a complete stranger even if she wanted to. Taking the only wrinkle-free dress form her bag, she held it up in front of her. The black material clung to her shape and revealed just enough for the right person to notice and those who didn't care to, not.

She could wear it tonight. It was dinner with Thelonious, Callie, and Marcus. She hadn't seen him in, well, since the day she discovered her husband in their bed with the woman he'd been cheating on her with for a little over a year. Almost three years now.

It wasn't that she hadn't been grateful that he'd come to her job to tell her about Jake's activities. But it had been complicated. Two weeks before, Jake had met with Marcus for drinks and to catch up while Marcus was in town working on a case. Jake had come home that night upset and sporting a nice blossoming bruise on his cheek. He told her he and Marcus had gotten into an argument over her. Marcus had admitted to Jake that he was in love with Abby and Jake had hit him first.

For the next two weeks, Abby avoided every call to her cell and her office. If Marcus thought that she would leave her husband, he had another thing coming. Then unexpectedly, in the middle of her shift at the hospital, there he was. His hair had grown out a bit since she last saw him five years previous and, instead of clean shaved, had a well-trimmed beard. She hadn't recognized him right away or she would have turned and walked away from him. But she hadn't, and before she knew it, she and he were almost nose to nose as he told her what really happened that night.

That Jake, four drinks into their little catch-up, had been the one to admit he had been having an affair with his dermatologist. That he had no intention of divorcing Abby or letting go of Lorelei. Their talk became words of anger then threats and then blows.

In the end, Abby had been the one to leave. She called Marcus later that night and asked if he knew a good divorce lawyer. He had known the best. A month later, she was divorced thanks to Diana Sydney. And thanks to Marcus.

In a way, she resented Marcus. The feeling was misplaced, she knew, but the pain she felt when she'd gone home to find a pair of blue high heels in her hallway, followed by a crisp, white button-up shirt, gray pencil skirt, black satin bra and matching thong, she couldn't help but blame him for it. She could still see the designer label from where she stood, looking down at the bra just outside of her bedroom door. La Perla. The woman had expensive taste, she'd give her that.

Had he not interfered, she would have gone on with her life in blissful ignorance. Would have gone home from work to a husband who smiled when she came home and to a daughter who was happy to see her and not one who blamed her for breaking up their family.

But he did interfere. And once she had known there was no going back. Once she'd seen it with her own eyes. Once Lorelei was gone and her husband sat at the end of their bed, the same bed that had just been calling out another woman's name, had admitted how long it'd been happening and how he'd fallen out of love with her and in love with another, that was it.

Her marriage was irrevocably over.

Looking at the dress, she felt a need to prove to herself, and a little to him, that despite being left for someone else, she was still desirable. That she wasn't the same broken woman who walked away from him in the hospital all those years ago. That she picked herself up and moved on just fine on her own.

* * *

If there was one thing Marcus Kane hated more than anything, it was being late.

He had planned to fly into Vegas the day before he was due to check into the room Thelonious had reserved for him. But due to flights being canceled and delayed because it had been too hot for planes to land, he had just caught the last seat on the redeye from Honolulu.

Had he been on the mainland, he could have driven there faster then it took to take a plane there.

His plane landed at just after five in the morning. Tired and a bit pissed off, he decided he'd rather pay extra and check in extremely early at the Venetian than have to change hotels later in the day.

He stared out the window of the cab as they passed palm tree after palm tree. The lights of the city still on in all their full glamour against the backdrop of the slowly rising sun. He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose.

When Jaha called him six months back and asked him if he would be his best man at his wedding, his answer had been an immediate, yes. There hadn't been a reason for him to say no. They'd been best friends since college, studied for the bar exam together. Marcus had been the first person Jaha called after his son's birth and the first person he called when his wife had died five years later.

They were friends through thick and thin. It was only when Jaha had begun to list off the people also in the wedding party, that gave Marcus pause.

Abby.

It'd been years since he had seen her. As hard as he tried, he couldn't erase the image of her standing in front of him, with her eyes filled with tears, calling him every name in the book, telling him how wrong he was, that he was only telling her what he was because he wanted her.

However true it was, however much he loved her, he would have given anything -even his love for her- to keep from breaking her heart the way he knew telling her about Jake was.

When she walked away from him that day after telling him how much she hated him, he thought that would be the last words he'd ever hear from her.

But sitting in his hotel room later that night while drinking straight from a bottle of Jameson, his phone rang. It'd been her. And when he told her he would have his good friend, Diana, call her the next day, silence grew in the line as heavy as his heart and he listened to make sure she was still there, only to hear a choked sob. With his head in his hand, he held the phone to his ear and stayed on the line, listening as she cried. There had been nothing he could have said to her to console her. He was pretty sure she wouldn't have wanted to hear much else he had to say anyway.

Once her tears abated, once she'd taken a few deep breaths, only then did she whisper those last words he'd hear from her.

 _Thank you, Marcus._

The idea of seeing her now, all these years later, both made his heart leap and his stomach tie in knots. He heard from Thelonious she had moved to LA to be closer to her mother and Callie. There were many times over the years he wanted to pick up the phone and call her but what the hell would he say?

It was better just to stay away.

Thankfully, the situation with Jake had come at a time when he'd been offered a job far enough away that his move and new role had occupied a good portion of his mind. But when his things were unpacked, when his job was done at the end of the day, he'd look out his window, watch the sunset and think of her.

He found it amusing he'd been doing just that when he spoke to Theolonus that night. Long after the sun had gone down did he let himself think about her. He could still remember her dark brown eyes filled with disbelief. He had closed his eyes then, telling himself to let go of the past and look forward to the future.

When he saw her again, he was determined to see the smile he missed.

Standing at the reception while waiting to check in, he listened to the tell-tale noise of the casino and though he knew it was stupid, allowed his eyes to roam the lobby. To his disappointment, the only people there were older men sitting at tables reading the paper with their morning cup of coffee, men in suits on their way to work or youngsters coming back from an overnight binge. She wouldn't have been there so early, but that didn't stop him from hoping.

"Enjoy your stay, Mr. Kane." The dark-haired young woman smiled and slid his keycard across the marble countertop.

Taking it, he thanked the woman and headed up to his room. He tipped the bellman and once he was gone, collapsed onto the bed.

Getting little sleep on the plane, a headache started to form a little over an hour ago. What he needed to do was get some sleep before he needed to get ready to meet everyone later that night.

* * *

She was early and for good reason.

Liquid courage, as Callie would call it.

Just one drink to calm her nerves before he got there.

Up at the bar, she took a seat and smiled at the blue-eyed young man. He placed a square napkin in front of her and with palms down on the bar, asked, "What can I get you?"

"An apple Crown and Coke, please."

"You've got it."

Not long later, her drink was placed in front of her. She thanked the man who had more patrons to attend and sipped her beverage.

She let the sweet burn go down slowly, savoring it, letting her mind wonder if she would see the same Marcus Kane she had last time. The hair, the beard… She hated to admit it, as she was a married woman at the time, but screw it, her husband had been cheating on her so who the fuck cared...Marcus Kane looked damn good with a beard.

He always looked good if she were completely honest with herself.

"May I join you?"

A shiver trailed down her spine at the sound of his voice. She swiveled in her seat to find the man in question standing beside her. Her top teeth sunk into her bottom lip. Dressed from head to toe in black, his hair just as she remembered it, same trimmed beard, and God, did he have a tan?

"You may," she said, turning to face him as he took a seat beside her.

The bartender chose that moment to ask Marcus what he would be having, and she took the time, while he was distracted, to run her fingers through her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders.

Drink now in hand, she watched him raise his bourbon and coke to his lips. Her lips pulled up when he took a long drink from it, couldn't help but wonder if he was as nervous to see her after all these years as she was to see him.

"So Abby…"

"Marcus…"

He smiled, and damn herself for being so weak but she found herself smiling back. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. Yourself?" She cringed internally at how formal she sounded.

"Good. It was a bit of a mess getting here but I made it."

"A mess?"

He nodded through a drink. "I guess the planes weren't landing here yesterday. Apparently, there is such a thing as too hot to land. I just managed to get the last flight off the island yesterday evening and got here early this morning."

Her head tilted to the side as her brows rose. "The island?"

"Oh, I don't suppose you would know. A few years ago I accepted a position at a small firm in Hawaii. O'aho more specifically."

"Explains the tan," she said, letting her eyes take him in and when she realized she was staring, turned her attention back onto her drink. "I'm jealous. We don't see much sun in Portland,"

He caught her looking before because this time, it was him who let his eyes take her in, and she couldn't say that she minded. "You should come visit. Grab yourself one too."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd enjoy that. Not awkward at all."

"You know I've been thinking about that actually."

"Of taking me to Hawaii or the awkwardness?" she teased.

He chuckled and she enjoyed the rich sound of it until he replied, "The latter. Since we're going to be spending a lot of time together this week I thought maybe we could pretend the past never happened."

She raised her glass to her lips to hide her smile. That would never work. "Never happened, huh?"

"Nope, we're just two people who met for the first time in a bar and turns out we're best man and maid of honor to our two best friends."

She considered his words, liked the idea of a sort of a do-over for them. "The whole week?"

He shrugged. "Or just for the night and see how it goes?"

Her lips tipped up. "You must not have much faith in us to get past what happened."

"On the contrary, I do," he said, then with a crooked smile, admitted, "I might have also thought it would make it easier to get away with flirting with you."

When she looked back on this night, she wasn't sure exactly what it was that compelled her more. Maybe it was the dim lighting with the candlelight flickering beside them that gave his eyes, that looked right through her, that dark warm glow. Maybe it was her curiosity. What it would be like to be wooed by Marcus Kane, or maybe, just maybe, she wanted to know if there really had been something there between them.

Drawing her shoulders back, she turned back towards him and said, "All right."

His eyes held hers and he grinned, looking surprised, but pleasantly so, like he didn't actually think she'd agree. "Yeah?"

"Why not? We're in Las Vegas and you know what they say…" she let her words trail off, leaving the ball in his court.

"That I do," he said, and she smiled, feeling his hand on her knee, his thumb sweep over her skin before he turned and lifted both of their glasses in the air asking for another.

* * *

He had known _exactly_ what she meant, and for the rest of the night they smiled and laughed. Flirted shamelessly with a freedom they never could or would before. Looks lingered, intentional brushes of hands over skin, and the sharing of food.

The looks their friends had given them told him they weren't sure what to think of them, but any thoughts or opinions they had on the subject were kept to themselves.

Whether or not they were able to fully put their past behind them, neither of them seemed to have a hard time focusing on the here and now. Spending time with Abby was easy and effortless. She captivated his attention the moment he walked into the room and surprised him when she agreed to his absurd idea.

He walked her to her room, at first she tried to insist he didn't need to, but he reminded her they shared the same floor. She smiled then and tipped her head to the side in a gesture for him to follow. Sure they drank before and throughout their meal, but not to the point where either of them was drunk. Pleasantly warm was how she described it, and he couldn't help but agree.

The elevator ride up was silent. She pushed the button for their floor then stepped closer to him. Close, but not touching. Close enough he could feel the warmth from her skin and the smell of her perfume, and the sweet, blossom smell was a scent he would willingly drown in.

When they stepped out into the hall he followed her, stopping in front of 418.

He tried but failed to bite back his smile.

"What?" she asked.

He scratched his neck and gestured to the room across from hers. "This is me."

She bit her lip, and damn him but his eyes followed. "Convenient."

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the rehearsal?"

She nodded slowly, and he felt his neck and face heat as her eyes took him in. She stepped up to him, and the breath in his lungs left him when she placed her hand on his chest. "Who said anything about the night being over?"

He swallowed. She was close, so close he could see the flecks of gold in her warm eyes which shown with, dare he assumed, was the same need he felt deep in his chest. It was all he could do to keep himself from leaning down and taking her lips with his, in the scant space that separated them.

"Abby," he murmured, lifting his hands and placing them on her lower back, "I know we agreed to forget about everything, but I don't think I can-" But she drew closer to him until his back hit the door and she was pressed right up against him. He nearly groaned aloud at the feel of her. He'd known her for so long, loved and wanted her for almost as long. Having her in his arms, feeling her against him, wanting him was all he ever dreamed of but as much as he wanted to know what it was to be able to _flirt_ with her, it was entirely another to venture down the road they were headed now.

Because the road before him lay only heartache. His.

And while they may have put their past behind them tonight, he doubted they would be able or she would be able to move forward after all they had been through. No matter how desperately he wanted to.

"Come on, Kane," she said, "You and I both know you've wanted this."

The richness and clear want in her tone did make him groan. "You're goddamn right I have."

"What are you waiting for?" she whispered in his ear as she rose up on the tips of her toes, sending a shiver down his spine. "Take me, Marcus."

His name on her lips said in that breathy sigh was all it took for his control to break. With his lips against hers, he fumbled for his key. Somehow, someway, they made it into his room without ever breaking their kiss.

His last thoughts later, as he felt her around him, were how she would be his utter undoing.


	2. Chapter 2

Blinking her eyes open the next morning, Abby nearly forgot where she was, but the feel of a warm body spooned behind her brought back all the memories of the night before.

Oh, _God_.

What had she done?

She knew _what_ she had done. She'd been fine with doing it once, but then she had gone and _stayed_.

What she should have done was go back to her room. But she'd been so tired and comfortable after they had done what they did so she lingered, and then he started kissing her again and well things heated. Again. Abby honestly didn't know where his stamina came from, but going from years without sex to multiple mind-blowing orgasms in one night, she sure wasn't going to complain. And then after they were finished he'd been so damn adorable, so damn _Marcus_ it had been impossible to leave. Not with the way he held her close, kissed her with soft presses of his lips to hers, and looked at her like she hung the damn moon.

It was those same kisses that were being pressed into her shoulder that kept her from fleeing even now.

Abby closed her eyes as his nose nuzzled into her hair and his soft, sleep-filled voice murmured, "Good morning."

"Morning," she said, turning her head towards him intent on smiling up at him but found herself falling further, pressed into the mattress with him above her and his lips moving over hers. She hummed, wound her arms lazily around his neck and threaded her fingers into his soft hair. Kissing Marcus Kane was far too easy of a thing to do and while she should have been picking up her clothes along with her dignity from the floor and leaving, she found herself reluctant to go.

But she couldn't just lie there and kiss him all day. She had to shower and dress and meet Callie for brunch before they went for Callie's final fitting.

Just as she was about to tell him so, Marcus rolled onto his back taking her with him. She smiled against his lips feeling other parts of him also very awake. His palms ghosted down her spine making her shiver. He wasn't going to make leaving easy on her.

"I have to meet Callie," she whined.

"It's still early," he told her simply.

"It is, but I have to shower and get ready," she protested, and it was a weak thing even to her own ears.

"You sure you don't have a little more time?" he asked and began kissing a trail down her chin.

She sighed. Technically, yes, she supposed she did. It was early yet, and she was meeting Callie in the restaurant downstairs so she had _some_ time, but they couldn't keep this up. They couldn't just keep having sex. They had lives they had to return to at the end of the week. And he lived in Hawaii for God's sake. What was she going to do, fly there for a quicky? No. It was better if they just ended this now before there were any feelings involved.

"Marcus, what are we doing?"

He chuckled. "Well, Abby-"

She brought a hand up that had been clutching at his shoulder, wound it into his hair and gave a gentle tug. "Not _this_ , Marcus," she said. "What are _we_ doing? Where can this possibly go?"

"Wherever we want it," he told her, dropping his head down against the pillow. The gentleness in his warm gaze filled her chest full of warmth. Left her feeling like maybe there was some way...

Her eyes widened. Oh, good God, no.

She groaned and dropped her head against his shoulder. "You're as infuriating as I remember."

His arms wound around her back hugged her to him. "And you're just as stubborn as you were before."

Raising her head, she arched a brow at him. "Stubborn, hm?" Placing her palms on his chest, she rose to straddle his hips, moving over him just so that her desire for him evident in the way she so easily slid over him. His eyes darkened, his hands squeezing her hips, her name tumbling from his lips in a soft, revenant, " _Abby_."

She let his eyes drink her in, and smiled smugly, at the appreciation she found there. She may have had a child, but she kept herself in good shape and though she may not be twenty, she didn't look bad at forty either.

She tilted her hips and sank on him, her jaw dropping open as he filled her.

 _Oh_. Why did he have to feel so… _Mmm, fuck._

Alright, so maybe she would straighten her hair instead of curling it. It wouldn't be the end of the world.

* * *

Her voice was a low, sexy murmur that made his cock throb when she said, "Maybe I have a little more time."

He snorted a laugh, and with that, she shifted her hips, slowly rose and sank back down on him. Marcus's head fell back, and as he did, felt her take his wrists and pin them down on the pillow beside his head. He opened his eyes, and gaze up into hers before she dropped her bow down to his, her lips seeking his as she began to slowly fuck him while all his thoughts blurred and he became lost in the feel of her heat wrapped around him.

"Christ, Abby," he groaned in time with her deep, breathy, _Mmm, you feel so good_ next to his ear. Her lips started to kiss a trail down his neck, and it had him turning his head so she could have better access to nip and suck and - _holy fuck,_ he loved her. He loved her for years. He loved her so Goddamn much. "My God, Abby," he breathed.

She hummed, pulled away, sat up on him and in doing so, released his hands, and it was about time because he wanted his hands on all that naked skin. Her hips sank, took him deep, and his cock throbbed inside her and at her words, "This good?"

 _Good?_ She had no idea. His hands fell from her breasts and grasped her hips. "Better than good," he groaned. "So much better than good."

"How long have you wanted to fuck me, Marcus?"

His eyes widened, her words nearly making him come right then and there. "Forever."

This time when she rose, and he planted his feet and thrust up deep inside her. She gasped, and her eyes widened in surprise right before they fluttered shut. He bit his lip and thrust up again. Her hands fell on his chest, her nails digging in, making him hiss, but the pain was worth it to see the look of pleasure on her face and the feeling of being completely thoroughly awestruck that she was there with him.

His hands gripped the flesh of her hips in time with every rise and fall of her hips. But then she slowed, and he looked up finding her looking down at him with a sort of need in her eyes before she reached for him and breathed, "Come here."

He wasn't about to argue. He sat up and her arms wrap around his neck, and they both shift a little so she could wrap her legs around his waist. His hands slide from her knees up and around bringing her impossibly closer.

Having her all pressed against him, fitted snugly together, while their lips brush together softly had his chest filling with so much affection for her he felt it would nearly burst. It was more intimate, more than just a quick morning fuck, but something for savoring, for feeling like they didn't know where one ended and the other began.

Again, she began to rock, and his hands clutched her backside to guide her down on him. She moaned into his kiss, and he chased it with one of his own. They kiss until they were breathless, and only then did he draw back to gaze at her. Bare and free of makeup, her hair mussed from sleep, and her lips swollen from their kisses. She was beautiful.

Her eyes searched his. "Marcus," she breathed, and his name on her lips in that moment sent a sharp twinge straight to his heart.

"Abby," he murmured, and cupping her face, brought her lips to his.

Together they rock with him deep inside her, and her breasts pressed up against his chest, bellies slick with sweat until they reach the edge, gasping into the others mouth from the intensity and then coming and trembling and groaning their release together.

The shower not too long later was hot and more than large enough to accommodate them both. It didn't take much to lure her there. Not with the promise to keep his hands mostly to himself and it was at that mostly, she had raised a brow and followed after him.

It had been a complete accident that he had her back pressed up against the marble wall while he held her around the middle, his other hand tucked between her legs. In all fairness, she had kissed him first. And now he watched, enthralled. Her brow furrowed and her jaw dropped down open, her breath catching as his fingers circled her.

Her nails dug into his forearm as her hands clutched and splayed along with the tempo he set. And when her soft sighs became moans, he made quicker tighter circles and watched as her eyes flutter closed. Her weight gave a bit, so he held her tighter and whispered, "I've got you, Abby."

She trembled and breathed his name and when he couldn't stand not having his lips on her sought them and swallowed her cries. She was close, but she hummed and clasped her hand around his wrist halting his movements against her.

He pulled away from their kiss, and it was his turn for his jaw to drop open when she raised her leg hooking it around his hip and murmured, "Inside me." Swallowing, he stepped forward and lining up rubbed the tip of himself against her, making sure she was ready, and _God_ , was she.

A groan spilled from him followed by, "Fuck, Abby," and "so good."

"You too," she murmured, but he could barely hear it over the spray, and that just wouldn't do. Grasping her thigh, he urged her other up and she gave a little jump. His other hand came up and grasped the other as she wrapped her legs around his back. Their lips found each other, tongues colliding as they adjusted, as he shifted her up a litter higher... just _there_. The new angle allowed him to go deeper, and she gasped and said his name over and over against his lips, and he'd never heard anything sexier.

His hands came up and cupped her ass and her nails scrape against his scalp and down his neck making a shudder run through him. They weren't teenagers anymore, and he knew he was going to feel this later but he couldn't seem to get his fill of her.

"Marcus," she whimpered, "touch me."

He smiled, murmured, "Do you want to come again?"

"Is that a serious question?" she asked, with a breathy laugh.

His smile widened, and he pulled back to see into her warm, dark eyes. Biting his lower lip, he slid his hand from her thigh and watched with satisfaction when her eyes widened as is fingers slid over her drawing a deep moan from her.

She pulled him into a deep, tongue-filled kiss as she came and not long after he followed, almost forgetting to pull out but managed just in time and spilled on the shower floor.

They rinsed and dried, and both a bit boneless as they dressed.

* * *

She left him with a kiss.

He hadn't thought she would. After their time in bed and the shower, they talked for a bit about their plans for the day before the rehearsal. He offered to send up breakfast but she needed to go get ready for her day with Callie. Truth be told, he needed to get ready as much as she, having just over an hour before he needed to meet Thelonious.

When she was gone he finished getting ready and took a cab out to one of Las Vegas' many golf courses. Thelonious met him in the bar and got to his feet at his approach.

"Hey, it's about time."

"Sorry about that," Marcus said, avoiding his friend's eyes. "I overslept what with the time difference."

He and Thelonious fell into step beside one another as they made their way from the bar out to the course. "Jet lag really? That's what you're going with?"

Marcus looked over at him, years of experience of a defense attorney he gave nothing away. "I don't know what you're referring to."

His friend chuckled. "One of the sharpest legal minds in the country and you're blaming your tardiness on a two-hour time change?"

They stepped outside, and he squinted into the sunlight. Reaching up he pushed his sunglasses down on his nose, and answered, "That's my defense, yes."

Marcus was aware his friend saw right through him, but what he had with Abby he'd like to keep between her and him for now. Quite honestly, he had no idea what the hell it was that they were doing and until he had some kind of word from her, he wasn't about to breathe a word of it.

Thelonious took a bag of clubs from beside a cart and took one from them. While taking a practice swing, he said, "I'd call out the weaknesses in your defense, however, the truth underlying makes me more than happy enough to allow it for the time being." Thelonious smiled and held out the club to him.

He smirked and took the club. "Which is why you sit on the bench, and I don't."

Another chuckled and then a dark, raised eyebrow. "You ready for this?"

Marcus nodded, took a moment to gaze over the green rolling hills. "It's been years, but I'll give it a go."

"Good man," Thelonious said with a pat on the back.

For the rest of the afternoon, Marcus drank and played golf and tried not to think about what the fuck he'd was going to do now.

* * *

"Hey, darling, sorry I'm late," Callie said, breathless after jogging over to their table and kissing her cheek before taking a seat beside her.

Abby chuckled and raised the menu she'd been absently staring at for the last twenty minutes. "You're fine. I had a late start myself."

"Oh, good." Callie took her menu and groaned. "Let's get food. I'm starving."

Ten minutes later they gave their orders to their waiter and had mimosas sitting in front of them while they waited. They chatted for a while about the fitting, and how Callie didn't care if the french toast and double order of bacon she ordered bloated her, she was eating it all.

Abby laughed, but her laugh faltered when Callie paused mid-sip of her drink with wide eyes.

"Abby, what happened to your-" she began reaching over to brush Abby's hair from her shoulder, then grinned. "Oh my God, Abby… is that a hickey?"

Her hand flew to her neck right before she reached for her purse on the chair beside her. She was going to kill him. "Tell me there isn't."

Callie grinned over at her. "You slept with him."

Taking her compact she checked her neck and sure enough there it was. Right above her collar a blossom of purple. Fuck. She snapped her compact shut and groused, "I might have."

Callie practically squealed. "Oh my God, why didn't you tell me you and Marcus had sex?"

Heads turned in their direction and Abby dropped her head into her hand. "Say it louder Callie, I don't think the busboy in the back heard you."

But Callie didn't care who heard. She scoot her chair only the slightest bit closer and demanded, "Tell me everything!"

"I will if you lower your voice!" Abby hissed, absolutely mortified.

Callie giggled. "Okay, I'm sorry." Composing herself, she oh so nonchalantly asked, "Soooo, how was your night?"

Abby rolled her eyes, and sighed but couldn't fight the smile that pulled her lips up. "It was… eventful."

"I knew something was happening. I told Theo as soon as we got in the elevator that was more than just harmless flirting that was," she paused, looked around as if to make sure no one would overhear her then said, " _that_ was eye fucking." Heat flooded Abby's cheeks and it only fueled Callie on. "God, you're practically crimson. Was it that good? I mean, I imagine Marcus would be. That broody bad boy defense lawyer thing he has going on."

Abby gave her a look. "You watch too much crime drama."

"And you watch too much Lifetime," Callie returned, then grabbed her arm. "Now stop being so PG and tell me everything already."

Abby sighed. "Yes, it was good. He's as much of a sex God that you've made up in your mind. There. Is that what you want to hear?"

Satisfied, Callie smirked. "Yes, it is. Thank you."

Their plates were then set in front of them, and Abby took her napkin from beside her and set it in her lap.

Thankfully, her friend's appetite gave her somewhat of a reprieve from her twenty questions and Abby was able to get in a few bites before Callie asked, "Are you nervous about the rehearsal tonight?"

She'd been in the middle of a bit of omelet and so she held up a finger, finishing her bite before she replied, "You're just full of pleasant topics this morning."

The look she received was nothing but pity. "I tried to get Theo to not invite him, but his parents mentioned it to him when he came and visited last month."

Abby picked up her drink, and said, "It's fine. I can handle one night in a room with my ex-husband."

"And you'll always have Marcus there," Callie said letting her words trail off, impossible for Abby to miss their implication.

Her shoulders fell. "It's not like that."

"Jake doesn't know that now does he?"

Her friend was a troublemaker. And Abby loved her for it. But still, she shook her head. "No, I couldn't use Marcus like that. Not when-"

"The three of you have so much history?" Callie raised a brow. "I honestly don't think Marcus would mind if you did."

No, he wouldn't, but _she_ would. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression. Not after last night. "But I would. As much as I might relish in Jake's face seeing us together, everything with Marcus is awkward enough as it is."

Callie tilted her head, asked, "Awkward how?" then took another bite of french toast.

How did she explain it? She wasn't even sure how to understand it all. "It's so easy with Marcus. Being with him. It's as easy as it was to be friends with him. That spark we had in college hasn't dimmed, if anything it's more than it was before." She sighed, and admitted, "I practically threw myself at him in the hall."

Callie grinned, delighted by this. "Did he seem to mind?"

"No, but that's no the point. I don't do that kind of thing. Can you imagine what he thinks about me?"

"Um, if he's thinking anything about you I doubt it's anything like you're thinking. Did he give you the impression that he thought any less of you?"

She softened a bit thinking about how he held her close, how his eyes held hers when she finally pulled away from him to leave that morning. "No, but I think less of me."

"Well, stop because I'm sure he's still as in love with you as he's always been," Callie said, and noting her eyes widening, swat at her, "and don't look at me like that, you know he is."

She tried ignoring the way her heart did a double knock in her chest and finished off the rest of her drink. "And another reason why it's awkward."

"Look at me right now and tell me you don't have feelings for him."

Abby raised her eyes to meet Callie's. "Of course, I have feelings for him," she said, then sadly, "just not those feelings."

Callie held her gaze until she couldn't take it anymore and looked away. "You sure about that?"

Their waitress came over to refill their drinks and that was where they left the conversation. After that Callie turned the rest of the afternoon into her dress and her overbearing mother and Abby hadn't had a chance to answer that question even though it was all she could think about.


End file.
